York aspires to be a Sanctuary City, but the reception for refugees requires innovative approaches to truly foster inclusion Our project used creativity to invite the public into the conversation: If you had to leave your home tonight, what one item could you not leave behind? We gathered these responses to inform the creation of illuminated art installations
PHASE A: Collection and Digitalisation
Refugee Action York members and staff facilitated workshops for 50 learners from Blueberry Academy and 50 members of the public at York Art Gallery
The discussions centred on the difficult reality of selecting items from teddy bears and photo albums to phone chargers and pen knives when facing permanent displacement
Using AI, we visualised these chosen items as digital files and uploaded them to an accessible, evolving digital magazine
PHASE B: Dissemination and Artistic Creation
We shared our findings with 25 refugee learners enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses at York College
We then set up kiosks at York College to gather the same prompt responses from the wider student body, with a moderate projection of reaching 100 learners in total
These artworks were displayed in traditional gallery settings and projected as illuminations onto the facades of city centre heritage buildings
The public was invited to complete postcards, designed by our refugee learners, and address them to the City of York Council in preparation for our final 'Feedback' event.
The core question of this final event was: How can we continue to prioritise and embed Empathy in our collective efforts to fully realise our ambition as a Sanctuary City?
Greg McGee Director, New Visuality
PRACTICAL STEPS TO FAIRNESS PRACTICAL STEPS TO FAIRNESS
In January 2025, clients and staff members of Refugee Action York visited Blueberry Academy to run sessions with learners with disabilities As well as reimagining the refugee experience, learners covered aspects of Citizenship, and Confidence, creating artwork to reflect new found confidence We were joined by the Lord Mayor of York and Sheriff of York
From February to April, Blueberry Academy and Refugee Action York set up in York Art Gallery Visiting members of the public responded with their own ideas, 'what can YOU not leave behind?', building a groundswell of public empathy
From April to July, Refugee Action York and Blueberry Academy reconvened We made 4 visits to York College's ESOL Department whose students set up kiosks, again generating personal responses from members of the public and students, but also directly addressing what we could do to make York a stronger Sanctuary City with less division and fairer representation
Bringing our ideas further, we collaborated with York College & University Centre’s “absolutely vital” work with their ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students.Via a series of activities we intersected the art work from Refugee Action York, Blueberry Academy, and members of the public to create a series of collages and projections We collaborated on a large scale communal display called 'Empathy' in York city centre Tesco's windows, with more members of the public joining in and depicting items they would take with them on a journey to a country they've never been to ESOL courses are for people who are, or are intending to become, long-term UK residents with the intention to improve their knowledge of the English language to help secure jobs, gain promotions or generally improve their skills in the workplace Says former Lord Mayor of York Chris Cullwick, “The work being done at York College is absolutely vital and I’m so pleased to see what’s going on here and that York as a city is as welcoming as it is There are so many great examples of that – a recent one being how people have opened their hearts and homes to those in need of help from Ukraine. “On the whole, we are a really welcoming city and I am proud to be the Mayor of the first city in the United Kingdom to declare itself a City of Human Rights ”
A FAIRER WORLD VIA ART
